Man admits to sex crime against Airbnb host's 7-year-old daughter in Minnetonka home

A Michigan man who rented a bedroom as an Airbnb guest at a Minnetonka home pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually assault a 7-year-old girl who lived there, the Hennepin County attorney's office said Monday.

Derrick Aaron Kinchen, 28, of Lansing, pleaded guilty to one count of attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a victim under age 13.

Kinchen will be sentenced May 18, when he is expected to receive five years' probation in accordance with state sentencing guidelines. If he violates his probation, he will serve a year and a half in prison. He will also be sentenced to serve four months in the county workhouse, but he was given credit for that time because he has remained in jail from the date of the crime, Sept. 24, until his release Monday.

At his court appearance Monday, Kinchen claimed not to remember the events of that early morning and made a Norgaard plea, meaning he agreed there is sufficient evidence to convict him.

The owners' daughter was sleeping in her parents' bedroom. About 15 minutes later, the father went up to the bedroom, saw lights on and Kinchen in the bed naked next to his daughter. The father yelled at him, and Kinchen grabbed his suit coat and wallet and fled.

According to prosecutors, Kinchen told the court that all he remembers is drinking a lot, going to the bathroom and thinking he was going back to his room. Then he remembered people yelling at him, and he ran. He later fell asleep in a neighbor's boat until a police dog bit him and he was arrested.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.